Now Hear This...

These boys are so much fun! They just play so very hard. And when they nap...well, they nap really hard. They stayed just like that, without moving, for about an hour. It was a delightful break for me. The Baby has finally learned how to crawl and he just loves it. He's getting pretty fast. I've had to remember to keep my lazy susan shut. If I don't I get flour, sugar, and salt all over the floor. He's also learned how to push buttons on the DVD player. That can get very upsetting for the girls and Three.

I forgot just how appealing stickers can be for a small one. He managed to put a whole sheet of them on his head. He even had one inside his ear! As you can tell his sister thinks he's a hoot! After the sticker sticking he got up and danced his little butt of to Hannah Montana. It's really amusing. He might just be the next Justin Timberlake. I've got to get the video function working on camera. The dancing just has to be documented.

We have extra kids this week so I will be very busy, and probably in a bad mood by Friday. I have to snap out of it though because it is Two's birthday on Saturday. I am trying to figure out what to get her. Things just snuck up on me, and everything she thinks she wants comes from American Girl. I just don't have enough money to pay for rush shipping. Cross your fingers for me that I think of something equally cool!

Head Injuries-R-Us

This has been a banner week for the boys and their heads. On Thursday the Baby fell off the front porch onto the first step. He didn't really hurt himself, but since it is concrete he got quite the nasty scrape on the side of his head. Then on Sunday Three fell off of a climber thing. He managed to catch himself with...His Head! Could he manage to do this feat on the grass? Of course not. It's always much better to fall a few feet, catch yourself with your head, and land on the nice soft driveway. Now, this is a kid who doesn't generally cry past validation of a hurt. He just motors right on after an injury. Not this time. He cried for a good ten minutes. He has the road rash on the side of his head to prove it. Then, when he did manage to get calm again, he ran right into the counter. So much drama. Then the Baby decided he wanted to chase the cat on Monday morning. Down the stairs. Really, I don't know what he was thinking. Thankfully there's a landing about half way down. I'm just not sure my nerves could handle a full on fall all the way down. So, I'm hoping things will calm down and we are done with the whole trying to bash their skulls in thing for a few days at least!

Where's My Spot?

On Saturday I got up early and went yardsaleing with a good friend of mine. I like to go see what sort of stuff other people are getting rid of. I also love it when I find really cool stuff for really cheap. This week I scored a headboard for my Mom for $5! Such a good deal. I also got a pink princess lamp for the girls for $2. Totally cool! Then there are the people who try to sell stuff at antique store prices. I saw a very pretty serving bowl. It was blue and pink and was a sort of oriental style. I might would have paid $5 for it, but not $25! It's a yardsale, get over it! But the whole upshot of the yardsale thing is that I had to get up early. 6:30. That is just wrong. I don't like to get up that early, but we do what we must to get the bargains. So, after I got out of bed I looked and there wasn't any room for me even if I had wanted to get back in.

How did this happen? I never started out thinking we would have a "family bed". I always thought it was weird and a little creepy. Well, that was four kids ago.

We were really good about getting the first one to sleep by herself. Then when the second one came along, I was just too tired to care much. She started sleeping in her own bed a little after she was a year old. Our wall sharing neighbor went away on a cruise, so we didn't feel guilty letting her scream. It only took a couple of nights and she was sleeping the night away in her very own bed.

Then came that boy. He refused to sleep in his bassinet as an infant. Then when he got too big for it (about a week after he was born) he would not lay down in the crib at all without screaming. At the time, we lived in a two bedroom place, and we couldn't just let him "cry it out" in the same room as the girls. So, when we moved into our current house, we did let him scream. He would scream for hours! It was awful. We finally gave in. He will go down in his bed, but he winds up in ours sometime between two and six every night. He's three now, and I just hope before he turns ten he learns to stay in his bed.

Then there's that cute, yet very stinky, Baby. He is 11 months old now. He has yet to sleep in his crib. It's all set up and waiting for him, but it is empty every night. He just won't lay down by himself. I've tried a few times, but I give in after about five seconds. I really do like to sleep with him though, and I think that is why I don't try very hard. He is so warm and soft and cuddly. I can't imagine just letting him lay there and cry. It would break my heart.

Now we are those weird people with kids in the bed. I am that Mom that has no spot in the bed after I get up. That is my wonderful husband who is pushed to the very edge every night by little feet. There aren't many nights when we sleep straight through. There's always someone waking us up for some reason. But, these are good nights. Our kids love us enough to want to be with us even when they are asleep. In a few years they will be to cool for us, and that big bed will seem empty. Then I will long for little feet and hands to push and wake me. Until then I'll have to keep trying to find my spot!

The Hubby also had to get up about five minutes after I left. The Baby's Mommy proximity alarm went off and he wasn't going to sleep if I wasn't there!

Atlas...Sort of Didn't Happen

I have discovered something about myself. I do not have the time or energy to concentrate on "heavy" books. I love to read! I can almost always be found with a book nearby. I read constantly; while cooking dinner, while brushing my teeth, while nursing the baby and just about any other free time I can find. I really like light easy reads. Patricia Cornwell has been among my recent reading. Then there's always Anne McCaffrey. I reread all of her books on a yearly basis. I just really like them. Recently however, I picked up "Atlas Shrugged". I've been reading it for over a week now, and I haven't quite made it page 200. It is a fantastic book. I am really enjoying it. But, I can't read it while the news is on. Way to scary! I can't read it while I'm cooking. I forget about the cooking while concentrating on Rearden Metal and burn everything. I have a hard time reading it while I nurse the baby because it is such a big book! The baby gets antsy when it gets near his head. It could squash it after all. I have a hard time reading it at night when I go to bed, because the type is really small and my eyesight is not what it used to be. I could turn the lights up a bit more, but it bugs the baby (yes he still sleeps with us). I need to carve out time in the day for me to sit and read. Preferably with no distractions or small children sitting on me. I think I might be able to find about five minutes. Sadly, at that rate I might get it finished just before Barry finishes up his first round of country destruction. We'll see how it goes. Rain is forcasted for the next week or so. The kids might be watching a lot of movies!